Pure Michigan malfeasance in Flint: Darcy cartoon

Also Tuesday, less than a week after issuing an emergency order that it would take over water sampling in Flint, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an update saying it expects to begin several rounds of sampling to confirm that filters distributed to residents are effective in removing lead and to better understand the types of service lines prevalent in the city.

The lawsuit centers on allegations by Flint residents that the city and state endangered their health by exposing them to unsafe lead levels in their tap water after switching their supply a year ago in a move to save money.

The long-term strategy includes more water testing in residential homes, schools, restaurants and the water distribution system, along with blood lead level testing of children in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. You will receive a free t-shirt when donating one case of bottled water. She said people with levels over 150 ppb were being notified and their water being retested. “But the most important I think right now…is to start the focus on the assessment and the providing of services and this appropriation starts us on the path to do that”. “It could be the way the samples were collected”.

“Following EPA protocol, 30 homes throughout town were chosen to test for lead and copper in the water”.

“If you have not had your water tested, get it tested now”.

That community is struggling with lead contaminated water – some even testing positive for lead poisoning. The campaign encourages residents to turn to the tap over bottled water. Flint has reconnected to Detroit’s system for now. Residents were told not to drink the water and a public health emergency was declared by the Genesee County Health Department in October, and Flint’s mayor declared a state of emergency in December. “The system is still recovering”. That meant the state was the top decision maker two years later, to shift Flint’s water supply from Lake Huron (via Detroit’s water system) to the Flint River, which Virginia Tech researchers found had water 19 times more corrosive than the previous supply.

It’s the second round of state aid for the city since the crisis was confirmed in the fall. The lieutenant governor, in an interview after the meeting, said he plans to spend at least three days a week in Flint for the immediate future.

“There was a failure at the local, state and federal level… we have a crisis in Flint. Knowing some of these cities, they would be challenged to really take this on”. Despite complaints, local and state government officials did nothing.

The Republican governor says “other things like that have been going on for some time now”.

Water from Detroit is now once again flowing in Flint’s pipes, but the damage to those pipes has already has been done, requiring them to be repaired or replaced.

Snyder continues to face criticism over the state’s initially slow response to the Flint water crisis and the role it played in the contamination.

Asked Friday whether his office and the Legislature should be subject to FOIA, Snyder told a roomful of journalists that he would “love to have that discussion” with lawmakers.

Snyder’s spokesman Dave Murray said Friday the water coolers placed near public drinking fountains on each floor were for both employees and visitors.